Prior art systems monitoring vehicle operation may be generalized as maintenance management systems or vehicle health management systems having no overt focus on addressing environmental concerns such as compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations or management of carbon credits. Such a characteristic of maintenance management systems relating to aerospace vehicles is particularly environmentally significant because such vehicles may be cited as contributors to global warming or climate change.
Currently available systems monitoring vehicle operation, such as maintenance management systems, are not known to comprehensively address environmental issues. According to the US Department of Energy, vehicles may produce several times their weight in greenhouse gases each year. Transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions may account for as much as 29 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and as much as 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Other environmental issues may also be related with vehicle operation and maintenance such as recycling materials and fluids, safely disposing of hazardous materials and modifying maintenance schedules to minimize environmental impact.
There is a need for a system and method for evaluating operation of a vehicle with respect to a plurality of environmental factors.